Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
Government has commended the Co-operative Movement for its contribution towards social and economic development of the country.
Acting Mbala District Commissioner, Felix Mungaila says for a long time now co-operative societies have proved to be vital engines in fostering social and economic development in the country.
Mr. Mungaila says to appreciate the Co-operatives’ effort, government has created a favourable environment for cooperative development by awarding contracts to co-operatives to distribute inputs under Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP).
He says government will this year recruit 500 officers in the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock among them Co-operative Officers and establish milling plants in all the 10 provinces in order to strengthen the operations of both primary and secondary cooperatives.
He states that government is aware of the poor state of the feeder roads and to this effect the district has procured earth moving equipment using constituency development fund (CDF) to work on all feeder roads.
Mr. Mungaila said this in a speech read on his behalf by Mbala District Community Medical Officer, Christopher Kombe during the commemoration of the International Cooperatives Day under the theme, “Choose Cooperative, Choose Equality.”
And speaking earlier, Mbala District Cooperative Union (MDCU) Chairperson, Alfred Ntuntu says for the past two farming seasons the MDCU has successfully distributed the farming inputs without any delay.
Mr. Ntuntu has thanked government for delivering all the district allocation of forty five thousand five hundred and twenty seven by fifty kilogram (45, 527 x 50kg) bags of D Compound fertilizer on time.
He has however lamented for hardships farmers go through by spending cold nights at FRA satellite depots to sell their produce while payments are delayed.
Mr. Ntuntu has appealed to government for urgent attention to the farmers’ challenges so as to appreciate their contributions to the social and economic development of the country.
ZANIS